Destination Farming
By Eric J. Wallace / Photo above courtesy of Virginia Tourism Corporation Agritourism in Virginia isn’t new: Farmers have used draws such as a pick-your-own orchard, corn mazes, or plots of Christmas trees to earn extra cash for more than a half-century. But the industry has seen tremendous evolution in the past 20 or so […]
Instant Systems
by Eric J. Wallace If you aren’t a medical industry insider, you’ve probably never heard the name Instant Systems. Products from the Norfolk-based design and manufacturing company aren’t prominently displayed on pharmacy shelves or in hospitals. They don’t take center stage in TV or social media ads—yet Instant Systems has played a vital role in […]
Scend Studios
by Eric J. Wallace Brenner Vasquez looked ahead to 2020 and thought, “This is going the be my year.” He’d founded D.C. area video production company, 8 Media Group, three years before, and the investment was finally paying off. Then the pandemic swept across the world, “and it was like, we need to just do […]
The Manufacturing Industry Is Booming in Coastal Virginia
by Eric J. Wallace The Hampton Roads region has been a powerhouse manufacturing hub since the days of Captain John Smith and that status is getting a monster shot in the arm as the nation approaches its 250th birthday. Announcements around new facilities and expansions have dominated the recent business news cycle, coming in such rapid […]
An American Dream
photos courtesy of ECPI, and family members When Alfred Dreyfus entered a room at ECPI University’s Virginia Beach headquarters, people lit up. Administrators, instructors, students—the response seemed universal. “I remember how everyone looked at him with this incredible admiration,” says ECPI vice president of strategic initiatives, Sam Dreyfus, speaking of his grandfather. You could tell […]
Tech Transformation Spurs Job Reskilling
The distribution center at Sumitomo Drive Technologies’ Americas headquarters in Chesapeake is about to get a major upgrade. A $9.3 million investment in state-of-the-art technology from pioneering warehouse optimization, design and automation firm, Swisslog, will convert a 27,000-square-foot inventory picking zone into an ultra-efficient auto-store with a footprint that’s nearly four times smaller. “Right now, […]
Business Beyond Borders
by Eric J. Wallace In just four months, the second Trump administration has enacted sweeping international business and trade policies that have scrambled global economic systems. Seesawing, often arbitrary tariffs or tariff threats, and actions such as pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which prohibits U.S. individuals and companies from bribing foreign […]
Pathways To Success
Economists dream of dynamic regional education and employer talent systems that are symbiotic: Schools equip grads with the experience and skills they need to propel them into their chosen careers while providing local employers with a reliable supply of well-prepared talent. “The goal is to create pipelines to high-paying, high-demand jobs that keep top talent […]
Maritime Powerhouse & Gateway to the World
by Eric Wallace Calling the Port of Virginia (POV) vital to the state and national economy is an understatement: It handles around 14.3 million tons of containerized imports annually, supports more than 565,000 jobs, and posts yearly net output sales of more than $124 billion. About one in every “nine or ten jobs [in Virginia] […]
Standing Watch
By Eric Wallace The Virginia Maritime Association (VMA) has spent more than a century working behind-the-scenes to grow and support one of the planet’s most booming maritime economies. Widely known as “the voice of Virginia’s port industries,” the consortium now includes 450-plus member companies that together employ more than 70,000 people. Here, we catch up […]